WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

DATASTREME OCEAN WEEK FIVE: 3-7 October 2005

Ocean in the News

(Thurs.) Rebuilding along the Gulf Coast could ruin its variety -- Civic leaders in Mississippi are concerned that big developers could see an opportunity to build large developments, such as condominiums, along the coast damaged by Hurricane Katrina, possibly blocking beach views and robbing the coast of its variety and charm. [ENN]
(Thurs.) Hurricane disaster risk maps unveiled -- A group of researchers from Earth Institute at Columbia University and several affiliated organizations produced a Natural Disaster Hotspots report that includes maps depicting the vulnerability of the US Gulf Coast to strong hurricanes. [Columbia University]
(Thurs.) Perhaps the Loop Current did it -- Researchers have studied the histories of Katrina and Rita using aircraft- deployed expendable temperature and conductivity profilers as well as drifters to map the temperature patterns and depth of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current. The temperature of the Gulf's upper layers seem crucial to determining a hurricane's strength. [EurekAlert!]
(Wed.) Hurricane Stan produces deadly landslides in El Salvador -- Hurricane Stan, the tenth hurricane of the 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season made landfall along Mexico's Gulf coast near Veracruz on Tuesday morning. As many as 66 people were killed across Central America by Stan as torrential rain associated with the system caused landslides in El Salvador. [CNN]
(Tues.) Sea ice decline continues -- Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center have used satellite data and found that the sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean basin continued to decrease at a near record pace during the last year. [NASA Earth Observatory News]
(Tues.) Viewing a tropical resort from space -- A high-resolution photograph taken by the commander onboard the International Space Station shows the huge Palm Island Resort being built along the Persian Gulf Coast near Dubai, United Arab Emirates. [NASA]
(Tues.) No elevated hydrocarbon contaminants found in recent Gulf fish catches -- The NOAA Fisheries Service recently reported that fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico did not appear to have elevated levels of hydrocarbon contaminants related to oil several weeks after Hurricane Katrina caused major damage to the Gulf coast, releasing a variety of toxic chemicals into the Gulf waters. [NOAA News]
(Tues.) Plotting a career in marine science -- A marine education specialist with the Sea Grant Program at the University of Delaware describes the variety of educational and career opportunities available to those interested in marine science. [NOAA Magazine]
(Tues.) Warm seas damage Caribbean corals -- The World Wildlife Fund recently claimed that the warm tropical waters of the Caribbean have not only been responsible for helping fuel the recent major Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but also have damaged corals in what is referred to as "bleaching" this year. [ENN]
(Tues.) Preserving a four-century old ship wreck -- An international team have been using equipment at Synchrotrons in California and France to determine the composition of wooden timbers of the Mary Rose, an English warship wrecked in 1545, in and attempt to preserve this wreck. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) Some studies of shoreline protection programs may be flawed -- Marine scientists at the University of North Carolina claim that the massive "beach nourishment' projects that employ dredge and fill to combat shoreline erosions have been based on inadequate and scientifically flawed studies. These researchers call for reform the practices of the agencies involved, along with increased environmental monitoring. [EurekAlert!]
(Tues.) "Snowball Earth" theory doubted -- A scientist at the University of Southern California who employed an innovative technique to study the geologic record extending back to the Pre-Cambrian glaciation has claimed that the existence of a complex and microbial ecosystem would suggest that the tropical oceans may have been open during this glaciation 700 million years ago, which would refute the "Snowball Earth" argument that they were encased in ice. [EurekAlert!]
Recent weather news from the tropics:
- Tropical Storm Stan, the eighteen named tropical cyclone (low pressure system including tropical storms and hurricanes) of the 2005 North Atlantic hurricane season, moved across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Sunday, bringing 5 to 10 inches of rain to Yucatan and neighboring Belize. [USA Today]
- The nineteenth tropical depression of the 2005 hurricane season in the North Atlantic basin formed in the eastern Atlantic near the Cape Verde Islands, meaning that this season is the fourth-busiest hurricane season in this basin in more than 150 years. [USA Today]
- Hurricane Otis, which was the seventh hurricane and fifteen named tropical cyclone of the 2005 hurricane season in the eastern North Pacific, was bringing heavy rains to Mexico's Baja California, resulting in flooding in and around the resort community of Cabo San Lucas, which is located at the southern tip of the peninsula. [USA Today]
Typhoon slams Taiwan -- Typhoon Longwang, accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain, made landfall on the eastern coast of Taiwan early Sunday, resulting in at leas 34 injuries, grounding a cargo ship, downing power lines, uprooting trees and disrupting air traffic. [USA Today]
Flooding in the Aloha State -- Heavy rain, with rainfall rates in excess of 3 inches per hour, fell across Hawaii's Oahu and Kauai islands on Saturday, resulting in flash flooding of some streams. Some of the rain was associated with remnants of former Hurricane Kenneth, which had formed in the eastern North Pacific off the Mexican coast and moved westward to near the Aloha State before dissipating. [USA Today]
Storm surge remains a concern -- Hurricane experts with NOAA have found that the storm surge accompanying Hurricane Katrina was responsible for many fatalities, which counters a recent trend along the nation's coastline during the last five decades. Katrina's storm surge could exceed the record 24.3 feet storm surge previously held by Hurricane Camille in 1969. [NOAA Magazine]
Suite of hurricane forecast products expanded -- Scientists with the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center have made several experimental graphical and text products intended to improve hurricane forecasting capabilities and communications. [NOAA Magazine]
A whale breeding ground name a World Heritage Site -- The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization named the waters and islands in Mexico's Sea of Cortez off Baja California as an internationally protected World Heritage Site because this region is a major whale breeding ground. [ENN]
Large variations in nutrient supplies explained -- Oceanographers at Duke University have offered an explanation for the large fluctuations in the nutrient supply in the North Atlantic that involves water pockets becoming wedged in the large scale circulation regime in the basin which prohibit upwelling of nutrients from the deep ocean. [EurekAlert!]
Funding for hurricane research too small -- Scientists at the National Hurricane Center recently noted that while Federal funding for hurricane research has increased over the last decade, more money is needed for increased research, as well as to hire more staff and modernize equipment. [USA Today]
Rita may have contributed to toxic algae bloom in Gulf -- Scientists with the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center and at the University of Texas-Pan American Coastal Studies Laboratory claim that Hurricane Rita may have been responsible for the toxic algae bloom, also known as "red tide", along the lower Texas Gulf coast. [ENN]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com] Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Concept of the Week: The Ocean and the Global Radiation Budget

The ocean is an important player in the radiational heating and cooling of Planet Earth. For one, covering about 71% of Earth's surface, the ocean is a primary control of how much solar radiation is absorbed (converted to heat) at the Earth's surface. Also, the ocean is the main source of the most important greenhouse gas (water vapor) and is a major regulator of the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂), another greenhouse gas.

On an annual average, the ocean absorbs about 92% of the solar radiation striking its surface; the balance is reflected to space. Most of this absorption takes place within about 200 m (650 ft) of the surface with the depth of penetration of sunlight limited by the amount of suspended particles and discoloration caused by dissolved substances. On the other hand, at high latitudes multi-year pack ice greatly reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the ocean. The snow-covered surface of sea ice absorbs only about 15% of incident solar radiation and reflects away the rest. At present, multi-year pack ice covers about 7% of the ocean surface with greater coverage in the Arctic Ocean than the Southern Ocean (mostly in Antarctica's Weddell Sea).

The atmosphere is nearly transparent to incoming solar radiation but much less transparent to outgoing infrared (heat) radiation. This differential transparency with wavelength is the basis of the greenhouse effect. Certain trace gases in the atmosphere absorb outgoing infrared and radiate some of this energy to Earth's surface thereby significantly elevating the planet's surface temperature. Most water vapor, the principal greenhouse gas, enters the atmosphere via evaporation of seawater. Carbon dioxide, a lesser greenhouse gas, cycles into and out of the ocean depending on the sea surface temperature and photosynthesis/respiration by marine organisms in surface waters. Cold water can dissolve more carbon dioxide than warm water so that carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere where surface waters are chilled (at high latitudes and upwelling zones) and released to the atmosphere where surface waters are heated (at low latitudes). Photosynthetic organisms take up carbon dioxide and all organisms release carbon dioxide via cellular respiration.

Concept of the Week: Questions

If the ocean's pack ice cover were to shrink, the ocean would absorb [(more)(less)] solar radiation.
All other factors being equal, if sea surface temperatures were to rise, the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolved in surface ocean waters would likely [(increase) (decrease)].

Historical Events

3 October 1841...The "October Gale," the worst of record for Nantucket, MA, caught the Cape Cod fishing fleet at sea. Forty ships were driven ashore on Cape Cod, and 57 men perished from the town of Truro alone. Heavy snow fell inland, with 18 inches reported near Middletown, CT and 3 inches at Concord, MA. (David Ludlum)
4 October 1582...The Gregorian Calendar was implemented by Pope Gregory XIII to correct for an increasing discrepancy between the leap year corrections of the Julian Calendar and the actual length of the year marked by the Earth's orbit of the sun. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, 4 October of this year was followed directly by 15 October, skipping over 10 days. (Wikipedia)
4 October 1869...A great storm struck New England. The storm reportedly was predicted twelve months in advance by a British officer named Saxby. Heavy rains and flooding plagued all of New England, with strong winds and high tides along the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. Canton, CT was deluged with 12.35 inches of rain. (David Ludlum)
5 October 1972...Heavy rains, mostly the remnants of Tropical Storm Joanne, fell across much of Arizona. It was believed to be the first time in Arizona weather history that a tropical storm entered the state with its circulation still intact. The center was over Flagstaff early on the 7th. (3rd-7th) (The Weather Channel)
5-7 October 1999...A storm southeast of New Zealand caused surf to reach heights of 12 ft along the south shores of all the Hawaiian Islands, flooding some roads and parking lots. The lobby of the Kihei Beach Resort on Maui and three ground floor units were flooded. (Accord Weather Calendar)
7 October 1737...A furious cyclone in the Bay of Bengal caused a major disaster at the mouth of the Hoogby River near Calcutta, India. As many as 300,000 people were killed, mainly as the result of the storm's forty foot high surge. (Accord Weather Calendar)
9 October 1873...LT Charles Belknap called a meeting at the Naval Academy to establish the U.S. Naval Institute for the purpose of disseminating scientific and professional knowledge throughout the U.S. Navy. (Navy Historical Center)
9 October 1967...A cyclone of relatively small dimension with a surface width of only 31 miles, hit India's coast at Orissa and moved to the northeast along the coast for 75 miles. As many as 1000 people and 50,000 head of cattle died. A surge in the storm's wake penetrated 16 miles inland. (Accord Weather Calendar)